What, no birds?!?!

[mvanrheenen]

After a pretty slow going birding morning I found this little guy on my retreat eating whatever he had found on the ground.

I know Birma will love this

#1 - Found some food



#2 - Lunchtime!



#3 - Darn, dropped it



As my a580 will be serviced by Sony (I hope), I took out the a390. All images taken with the a390, 70-400G and HVL-F43AM mounted on a monopod.

[Greg Beetham]

Is that the endangered Red Squirrel? I can see some grey on the back that's why I ask. Very good photo sequence btw, I understand squirrels are not easy to photograph.
Greg

[mikehawthorne]

nice shots
mike hawthorne

[mvanrheenen]

Thank you both!

No, squirrels aren't easy to track when they are running (hopping actually), but once they sit down to eat, it's a peace of cookie I followed this one for a while until it climbed a tree and began eating.

Is that the endangered Red Squirrel? I can see some grey on the back that's why I ask.

I have no idea. Does look like it from what I've just googled.

Mark

[mvanrheenen]

Just found out from a website where people can register sightings of all kinds of flora and fauna that the Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) indeed inhabits this part of the Netherlands. I therefor think you are right Greg. I'll register this sighting myself and let the experts behind the website confirm my sighting. I'll know for sure then.

Mark

[aster]

A change from birds indeed, Mark. : )

You caught the little guy at one of his most expressive moments. All creatures show signs of a curious awe at the event of losing their food in an odd instance and this tiny squirrel is no exception.

Thanks for sharing. He does have an auburn quality to its fur and has a very cute body language. : ))

Yildiz

[Birma]

Hi Mark - definitely looks like a Red Squirrel to me - different shape to the invading grey - the tufts on the ears are a dead give away even ignoring the lovely auburn colour. Fab pictures, and as you say one of my absolute favourites .

[mvanrheenen]

Thank you Yildiz and Birma

Looking at the sightings website, the Red Squirrel is quite common around these parts. They are not cataloged as rare.

[Birma]

Looking at the sightings website, the Red Squirrel is quite common around these parts. They are not cataloged as rare.

Perhaps the rareness of Reds it is just a UK thing? The Reds are pretty much extinct from mainland England and Wales now. They survive on the Isle of Wight in the South, and in the parts of Scotland which favour their pine forest speciality over the invading Grey squirrels. Greys were imported (from America I think) and have replaced the Reds; out competing them for their shared foods etc. When I was a child there were still small pockets of Reds in places such as Devon. They are all gone now.

Greys squirrels are common in woods, parks and gardens and they are sometimes considered a pest. Childrens books and art work well in to the 20th century (e.g. Beatrix Potter, and anyone remember the Tufty Club?) always have squirrels represented as Reds. I suspect that few people in the UK now have seen a live Red squirrel.

From a biodiversity pov I'd prefer the indigenous species to prevail, but it has gone too far now I think for the Red to be saved. From a purely romantic pov I think the Red one just looks cuter, and is more squirrely . I will be much happier knowing that there are healthy populations of Red squirrels on the continent - just don't let in any of the Grey (not "Greg" ) blighters!

[David Kilpatrick]

No need to insult Greg

The problem is not competition for food, it's that greys carry an endemic virus to which they are resistant, and reds are not. Therefore the task is prevent ANY significant grey population bordering on reds. Squirrels tend to be in enclaves. We have greys here in Kelso, and I do not mind them in the garden (though they have only been here about ten years, so they are not yet approachable unlike those in city centres). But under one mile away in the woods of Floors Castle there are reds, and you only have to drive a few miles in each direction to find colonies of reds and no greys.

The moral problem is - do you eradicate all the greys, entirely, because they are now so close to red colonies? Right now, they don't go for a total cull. They do occasional culls when the population grows and the range is seen to expand. The only thing they don't seem to have grasped is the possibility of trapping and moving populations of reds, or indeed of using islands creatively. There's no need for red squirrels to die out in Britain, but they probably can not co-exist with large populations of greys.

David

[Birma]

Ooops - mistyping corrected - sorry Greg

Ah - it is a virus is it. I had heard lots of theories over the years including that the Greys attacked and killed the Reds, which was then refuted. Trying to control wildlife is always tricky. I imagine badgers are going to become a very hot topic in 2012 with the planned culls.

[Greg Beetham]

Ha ha keep those greg varmints out of there, no problemo Birma I knew what had happened. It's always a shame to loose an animal in the wild that you knew since childhood, it diminishes our existance on spaceship earth for sure.
Greg

[Dusty]

Yes, greys are a pest, (but NOT Greg!). They always steal my fruit from my trees, and while I would be happy to share a small bit with them, they like to take just a bite or 2 for the moisture and then leave them, returning again to do it until there are none left!

I'm going to start trapping them again this summer to knock the population here down a bit.

I haven't seen any reds around here - although the NA red ant the European red are different - but several years ago while deer hunting saw the beautiful Fox squirrel. We also had a black squirrel that lived in a tree outside the companies condo in Arlington, VA (across from Wash, D.C.) when I was there several years ago. I often thought of getting it's picture, but don't believe I ever did.

Dusty

P.S. If you think that they're too cute to cull, just remember what they really are: tree rats!

[mvanrheenen]

So, about a week ago I went out shooting a little further into the woods then I'm used to. After about an hour we came past a tree filled with about 6 or 7 red squirrels. I tried to take pictures, but it was way to dark with all the high trees blocking what sunlight was there.

I followed a few squirrels when they ran off. Guess what they were going to do



Although not a good shot, I like it because I've captured something I haven't seen before. It's a good sign that the population still keeps growing.

Mark

[Greg Beetham]

Excellent work Mark, being on the spot for that and managing to get a focussed shot before they disappeared.
Greg